


technicolour

by 99santicgo



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, First Brooklyn Nine-Nine fic, Inspired by Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV), Jake & Amy, Peraltiago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 00:06:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19139596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/99santicgo/pseuds/99santicgo
Summary: Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago are made for each other. They just don't know it yet. How will the world prove their destiny to them?





	1. chapter one: the legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there is a very famous story about finding your soulmate. but its just a story, right? right??

Amy Santiago had learned many things and lived many lives doing the thing she loved best; reading. Her favourite genre you may ask? It’s not a ‘big fat binder’ as suggested by her beloved mentor Captain Raymond Holt, or ‘some nerdy math crap’ as so eloquently put by Rosa Diaz, the badass other half of the Sleuth Sisters. It’s romance. People falling in love, finding their forever loves, their soulmates. Amy ate that shit up. But the problem was, she didn’t actually believe a word of it. 

She’d always assumed it was like the paranormal, there were heaps of stories and even “evidence” on tape of it happening, but there was no way it was real right? You see, the legend was that once you fell in love, like really in love, like a “holy crap this is my soulmate” kind of love, you could see in colour. Amy had read all about these things, ‘colours’. Apparently, there was nothing more beautiful, but she earnestly believed it was just a way to give the ever-decreasing bridal businesses a boost. Just like when Coca-Cola practically invented Santa and brought their company and Christmas to an all time high that would probably never drop, just like the obesity rates. 

Still, Amy continued to consume romance novels, hastily written and produced Netflix series and made-for-tv movies as if they were her oxygen. In a way, they probably were. They kept her going, almost like a religion, no matter how culty that sounds. They gave her some hope that life had more to it, some richness. Amy loved her job like nothing else and all she wanted was to make captain, she loved her family, even if she felt as though she was second best to all her brothers, she loved her friends. But reading just made her feel like life really could be worth it one day.  
It had not really been all that long since Captain Holt became the commanding officer when he finally snapped and fired the incredibly incompetent Detective James Hurtle and changed Amy’s world forever. Other than the fact he sat across from her, she didn’t have any real relationship with James, nothing more than some light banter and workplace chat, but it was his replacement that made the real difference. 

Detective Jacob “Jake” Peralta transferred in from the 9-8. She’d seen him before, heard of stories that’d make you laugh so hard you could fall off your seat. He’d always seemed like the compelling type, tall, dark and handsome, incredibly intelligent but so immature no one really sees it, unless they wanted to. Amy was excited to see firsthand how he worked. Gina Linetti, the precincts secretary and Rosa already knew him. Gina, since childhood, and Rosa from the academy. Amy wasn’t jealous there was already a relationship there, she was relieved actually. It was good that he would be able to fit in to the precincts dynamic quickly. 

The Friday of Jake’s first week, Amy could have sworn that the greys of the train on her way home danced off the lights differently. She could have sworn that the dull greys were somehow a little brighter, richer, but she forced herself to ignore it. After all, those stories were just stories, right?


	2. chapter two: the bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which jake makes a bet with a prize that amy probably could have refused

It had been a good while since Jake Peralta started working at the 9-9. He loved it with his whole heart. He loved the rapport he’d built with Captain Holt, which was so strong there were rumours all over Brooklyn that Jake was Holt’s ‘pet project’ to get him to commissioner. He loved reuniting with Gina, his childhood best friend who he would hang out at his Nana’s with, and he loved reuniting with Rosa, who he’d become very close to in the academy. Rosa and Jake had built back their bond like they’d never spent years apart. The trust pact between them, “a thousand push-ups” had never been stronger. He loved the instant friendship cultivated by the strange, food obsessed, awkward, good-guy cop Charles Boyle. He loved the big softie that was Terry Jeffords, even if he was addicted to the gym, the approval of his peers, yoghurt and talking about his children. He even loved the gross, smelly, bowel obsessed and overwhelmingly incompetent Michael Hitchcock and Norm Scully. 

There was one thing that really bugged him about the precinct though, or rather, someone. Amy Santiago. The only relationship they had managed to build with each other was purely competitive and workplace based. 

Jake decided that to get into Amy’s good books, while remaining at least somewhat productive to keep Holt of his tail, he would propose a bet. Whoever had the most arrests after one whole year would win. The final day of the bet was quite a buzz within the precinct. There was a hive of activity as Amy and Jake both racked their brains of ways to make more arrests and repeatedly bugged Captain Holt for more cases, much to his disdain, and inevitably, his refusal. In the end though, Jake pulled through at the very last second. Amy was mortified. Jake dressed her up in a not so subtle attempt to do a redo of his bar mitzvah. Jenny Gildenhorn would curse the day she made out with someone else. Maybe. Probably not, though. Even when things didn’t go to plan, the night was perfect. Jake didn’t care his plans and money were wasted. Amy Santiago had flirted with him for a few seconds and that made his heart sing. Maybe they would have a friendship and not a stiff, awkward workplace acquaintanceship. 

Jake ignored the broad smile that wouldn’t leave his cheeks and the heartbeat that was rattling around his ribs making breathing almost difficult. Jake ignored the sparkles that danced around the city, almost like things were a little bit different. What were those things he’d heard about? Colours? Yeah there was no way he was seeing those right?


	3. chapter three: the kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which amy definitely does date cops

Too much had happened for Amy in the last months. She knew Santiago’s were built for stress, in fact they thrived on it, but Amy was not accustomed to this type of pressure. Exam prep? She’s got it nailed. Catching bad guys? Done, and she looks like a badass doing it. Actual proper real life “omg are is the legend real?” romance? Not prepared, not in the slightest. 

Life had become extremely confusing for Amy, she had been dating Teddy Wells for a while and even though she could sense that her attraction to him was faltering, the fact that pops of blue where popping up all around her. Perhaps Teddy was the one for her, her soulmate. She had noticed something inside Jake too, something peaceful and happy. He was in a relationship with Sophia Perez and while some of it was complicated and awkward, due to their conflicting jobs, it was clear he was so obliviously happy he was seeing the world differently. Clearly if this colour theory is true, Jake had found his soulmate. Amy couldn’t help but be a little bit crestfallen by her recent epiphany, but it was okay because obviously they had both found what was obviously true love.

Despite this, Amy couldn’t get Jake Peralta out her head. The way he made her smile in any situation, but how he could go to serious in a second. She watched him and knew that he enjoyed that people saw him as a scrappy, inventive and even childish. But Amy knew Jake, he was intelligent, sensitive and calculating, but in the good way. 

It had been a solid few months with Teddy when Amy woke up in the middle of a night in a sweat, unusual for her as she kept a strict sleeping routine and schedule. Everything in Amy’s life was strict and planned, she needed something different. Amy cradled her face in her hands, she knew what she needed to do. Jake was the one she was meant to be with. But she’d already told him she was committed to Teddy. Mentioned she didn’t want to go through a break-up again. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬. 

Jake had messed up big time inviting Teddy to stay at that cabin. That would take a while to recover from. Even as Jake and Amy joked on the way home together that Amy “used” to like Jake, she noticed something different. The sky looked weird. She guessed it was blue, because that’s what they taught them in school. To be honest, Amy had always assumed that the blue was the dull pale grey that laid behind the skyline of Brooklyn. She had never been more thrilled to be wrong. Amy looked at Jake and noticed he was wearing a shirt that matched the sky and beamed. Jake beamed back and Amy knew he didn’t know why. 

It took a fair while for Amy to get used to the fact that the uniformed officers weren’t actually wearing black, and in fact a deep, deep blue. Whoever decided that people needed to fall in love to see colours was cruel, how could you keep this beauty from others? 

Finally, she was used to it when one day Jake complimented her on her shirt. Surprised, Amy looked down and felt the colour drain from her face. She was wearing blue. She was fairly certain Sophia and Jake had broken up. What did this mean? 

They kissed three times that day. Two for a case. Once for real. It didn’t feel real though. The most important fact of that day was that Amy saw red. It was a harsh, angry colour, flashing into her life in a blaze of fury immediately after she found out her beloved captain was being relocated. Amy looked at Jake and could just tell he could see it too, bouncing around the room, even though it was unwelcome.


	4. chapter four: light and breezy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there's a sex tape joke, an epiphany and a whole lotta love

Jake knew now that the colour legend was real. He’d opened himself up to it. He’d done limited research (compared to Amy’s HOURS of poring over websites and books looking for every shred of written evidence) and he’d found once the colours start, you need to open up your heart and mind. The more open to them you are, the more colours you see. At this stage he believed Amy only saw the blue and red based on emotions she couldn’t control. Jake had opened himself up to the thought of being in a relationship, he didn’t just want it he 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 it.

He googled colours to see which ones were open to him and he found that he could see blue (from the date that wasn’t a date on the rooftop), red (from his anger that Holt was being relocated), orange (from the day he saw Amy in the park at fall and she looked beautiful). But they were the only colours he could link to moments. Some of them literally appeared overnight after he’d dreamt of Amy, pinks, purples, greens and yellows. He felt he had most of the basic colours but wondered when the last of the grey spots would brighten. Maybe he would see them finally when Amy opened herself up to him, "𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘦!" at that thought Jake laughed out loud and had to pretend he’d seen a meme, much to Holt’s dismay. 

Hours after Charles had left the day Amy had shown up at Jakes door to declare that light and breezy was dead, she told Jake she could finally see the colours. He asked which ones and she detailed all the same as him. Jake was in awe of the beautiful woman sitting on his couch in his dingy little apartment. He couldn’t believe she would even consider him someone worthy of her love, let alone see the colours with him. 

She fell asleep at his house that night, and for a small while he watched her. Traced every feature of her beautiful face in his mind. Watched the way her features relaxed and moved as she shifted from dream to dream. He didn’t quite know it yet, but Jake was in love with Amy, or at least heading that way. There was no one he’d rather talk to more, no one who’s opinion he cared about more, no one he trusted more. Amy shifted in her sleep and breathed a heavy, happy sigh. Jake chuckled under his breath and moved to snuggle up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her cheek and then stroking her silky hair until he fell asleep too. 

Little did they know, they’d both sleep in, wake up to an unusual mid-morning sun shower and realise they both could see in perfect, unadulterated colour, as a glorious rainbow filled the sky. Little did they know, that saying “screw light and breezy” would welcome the start of a beautiful life-long relationship.


	5. chapter five: after the kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which they live a beautiful life but there’s a bit of a twist

Jake and Amy fell quickly and irrevocably in love. They each contributed to what was a healthy, beautiful and loving relationship. They grew and learned and shaped each other and brought smiles to the faces of those around them. Amy was shocked to discover the colour legend was real after all, Jake equally as shocked he was blessed enough to share it with her. 

It wasn’t long before they were engaged, and then married, and of course, in the blink of an eye they welcomed a beautiful baby girl, who’s name started as a joke, but was soon the well-loved moniker, Atlas. Atlas would grow to be exactly the same as both her parents as wild as that sounds. She was smart, witty, downright hilarious, determined, motivated, loving, friendly, passionate and beautiful, among other things. Everyone could see she would probably carry on her parent’s legacy and make a fantastic policewoman one day, even from toddler-hood. She’d be more than capable.

Jake and Amy loved each other wholly. They loved their little girl, even when she wasn’t so little anymore. They loved the family they had created at the precinct, even when Holt left for good, but that’s because he had made commissioner this time. They loved their little apartment that was as close to suburban living they could get. They had a beautiful life. They would tell Atlas all about the colours, and how much hope they had for her to find them. 

But around them, the world wasn’t so blissfully happy. The crime rates were increasing in the city and with so much going on it was getting increasingly harder and harder to catch bad guys. Drugs unimaginably worse that Giggle Pig were rife, and no task-force stood a chance. The precinct continued on with their jobs like nothing was getting worse, but the truth was it was getting more and more dangerous. 

Each day there was a new case that was worse than the last. Violence and drugs riddled the streets like cancer, it seemed normal to any average civilian, but the authoritative figures knew something big was coming. It took far too little months for event that would shake Brooklyn to its core. The impromptu shoot out taking place just streets away from the precinct. The new captain had calmly told them what was going on and Amy turned on a radio connected to other police officers just to keep an ear out. There were cops announcing themselves every few minutes when it hit Amy like a ton of bricks. Jake had gone to get coffee, because he hated the precincts instant stuff. 

There was no way he was on scene though right, right? Her stomach was in knots.


	6. chapter six: the radio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which it’s the end of a whole era

They’d been through this before. Years earlier, the entire 99th precinct had listened with bated breaths as Rosa was at a shootout. This time was just as bad for the squad but worse for Amy. Jake was there.

Hearing him come on the radio and announce himself, “𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢-𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘉𝘢𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘕𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 9544" was heartbreaking for her. Normally, Jake seemed to weirdly enjoy himself in situations like this, but his voice was shaking in a way he’d never heard before. Years later Rosa would tell Amy that’s exactly what he sounded like when Amy was taking a long time to wake up from anesthetic, the day Atlas was born.

Radio announcements came in at least every five minutes. Another cop down. All to save the civilians, and they seemed to be doing okay at that, even though the police officers were dropping like flies. Eventually Amy had to have a break. Her heart was racing too much, and she felt nauseas and faint. She couldn’t find herself in hospital, she needed to be strong for her husband when he returned. Because he would return, right? Quickly smoking several cigarettes while ringing her mother, who was in town visiting, to ask her to pick up Atlas from, Amy took many deep breathes in between puffs in an attempt to regulate her heartbeat.

Going back to the precinct, Amy chose to take the stairs rather than the elevator so that the dinging wouldn’t announce her presence and she wouldn’t get all the pained looks from her colleagues. She snuck in and took Jake’s jacket that he’d left behind with her to stand on the roof. She could see the lights from all the officer’s cars in the near distance and the fact that she couldn’t be there made her heart ache. 

Amy held Jake’s jacket up to her face and snuggled into it, breathing deeply, it smelled so good and so much like Jake. She closed her eyes to help calm her nerves. She would forever regret ever opening them again. That’s because, when she did the world was back to how it was before, but duller. Just black, white and grey.

She started screaming. “no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO NO, NO, 𝘕𝘖”.

The radio announcement that would change her world forever. It sounded just like all the others but this one was far worse.

“𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢-𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 99𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵. 𝘉𝘢𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 9544. 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦”

She heard her coworkers scream out her name as she howled in pain. Then, there was darkness. 

Amy Peralta-Santiago had been widowed.


End file.
